Wen Zhen was an Earth Immortal in life. She never grasped the Great Dao and failed to escape the shackles of Heaven's Mandate.
As her end approached, she lay down in the blessed grotto-heaven she had chosen long ago, waiting for her soul and body to crumble and perish together...
But when she awoke from the darkness, she found herself lying in an unfamiliar coffin.
Even stranger, her body was perfectly intact. Her feathered robes shimmered with color, and the baleful aura had left her. She looked exactly as she had before entering the Five Decays of Heaven and Man.
There was only one difference.
She was no longer an immortal.
But Wen Zhen was certain she was human.
As luck would have it, she ran into a Celestial Master who refused to believe her and insisted on taking her back to the Star Pavilion.
As luck would have it, the Celestial Master had only just come down from the mountain and would not return until her training was over.
Wen Zhen asked her, "What would count as finishing your training?"
The Celestial Master replied, "When I ascend and become an immortal."
At the Celestial Master's mercy, Wen Zhen had no choice but to travel with her through the mortal world.
But becoming an immortal?
This time, she planned to try a different path to immortality: slaying the Three Corpses.
Slay the Three Corpses, and one attains Golden Immortality.
-
While traveling, Wen Zhen passed a battlefield where golden armor blotted out the sun and the cries of battle shook the sky.
A figure sat astride a horse, saber in hand, red robes stained with blood. In a flash, he vanished into the clash of metal and rain of blood. When he appeared again, he had taken the enemy general's head.
The young general whose fame shook the land certainly lived up to his reputation.
But Wen Zhen could tell at a glance that he was not human.
She was still wondering how to get the Celestial Master to choose another target when a cold, sinister gaze fastened on her first. From then on, it was impossible to shake.
The young man loved to follow Wen Zhen, staring at her or saying things that seemed to mean more than they said.
Until one day, all that remained in his eyes was naked hatred, and he questioned her again and again:
"Why are you allowed not to hate?!"
Immortals live long lives, long enough to accumulate memories stretching back ages, yet they have long since forgotten the joys and sorrows they once felt.
At first, Wen Zhen thought she had simply forgotten, but... that wasn't it at all.
Blurb first written on 2025.6.2
Theme: Not sure yet.
